On Literature in 2015 It sounds so easy: you pick the most important novels, short stories and poetry editions from a year; you assess and evaluate them, and finally you say what these novels, short stories and poetry collections share in common and what they reveal about current trends. Feuilleton editors often steel themselves for…
2015
2015, Innovations in the digital field
Is technology a help or a hindrance for writers?
by Sam Sedgman •
The internet can be a real problem. Or at least that’s how many writers, including Zadie Smith and Nick Hornby, sometimes feel. They are two of a cohort of writers who confess to keeping their working habits in check by downloading software like SelfControl and Freedom – programs which block access to the internet in…
2015, Literary trends across Europe
On the diary as a literary genre/ Über das Tagebuch als literarische Gattung
by Peter Zimmermann •
Awake. Get up. Snow outside. The diary or journal as a literary genre enjoys huge popularity in the publishing world. So why is this? Because it satisfies the need for authenticity? Because a reader gets closer to a writer through his or her fictional texts? Because when filtered through a writer’s viewpoint everyday life suddenly…
2015, Innovations in the digital field
About Change and Digital Oblivion/ Változás – A frissítés mint felejtés
by Szilard Borbely •
I am searching on the internet. I am searching for the word “change.” The most important change to shape the technology of research is the fact that now we always start with the internet. Myself included. The internet does not recognize change since all the details of a particular configuration preceding a change immediately disappear…
2015, European Literature Days daily blogs
European Literature Days 2015 daily blogs/ tägliche Blogs der Europäischen Literaturtagen 2015: Peter Zimmermann
by ELit Network •
Peter Zimmermann, born 1961, is an Austrian writer and journalist. He works for the Austrian broadcasting corporation (ORF). Peter Zimmermann, Schriftsteller und Journalist. Feature- und Kulturredakteur des ORF/Hörfunk in Wien, zuständig für die Büchersendung “Ex libris” auf Ö1. *** From 22. to 25.10.2015 Peter Zimmermann writes daily blogs on topics and discussions of the…
2015, European Literature Days daily blogs
European Literature Days 2015 daily blogs: László Szabolcs
by ELit Network •
László Szabolcs, born 1987 in Romania. Studies in Bucharest and Budapest. Short stories, essays, translations from Romanian and English, reviews for literary journals. Editor for Central European University Press and member of the József Attila Circle (JAK). From 22. to 25.10.2015 László Szabolcs writes daily blogs on topics and discussions of the European Literature…
2015, Innovations in the digital field
Media Tax, Not TV Licence Fees/ Mediensteuer statt Fernsehabgabe
by Beat Mazenauer •
Swiss citizens recently voted about new regulations for their radio and television licence fees. The result was an extremely close vote for a licence fee that, similar to the German model, is not based on usage. All households must pay the licence fee and now all companies and businesses as well. The new rules were…
2015, The Migrants
Wrong and right – right or wrong?/ Falsch und richtig – richtig oder falsch? (3)
by Anna Kim •
Finally, I would like to speculate on three (almost) non-polemical (non-partisan) thoughts: 1.) There have always been writers who work in a lingua franca. The most famous of them and the names most frequently mentioned are Joseph Conrad, Vladimir Nabokov and Samuel Beckett. It is less well known that writers from Greenland almost exclusively write…
2015, Literary trends across Europe
WOMEN ON THE EDGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
by Katja Perat •
I never belonged to the big fans of crime stories. I never knew the collected works of Agatha Christie by heart. When Stieg Larsson became a big thing, I did not even try hard enough to go to the cinema. And then something happened. Girls took over the wheel. Girls who, in spite of the…
2015, The Migrants
Wrong and right – right or wrong?/ Falsch und richtig – richtig oder falsch? (2)
by Anna Kim •
Can a ‘wrong’ Austrian produce ‘right’ Austrian literature? I haven’t escaped this question so far. It seems to be a genuine ‘questionable case’ (Fragefalle), or a ‘trap’ question (Fallenfrage). The trap is always set up in the same way: whenever I’m invited to give a reading, initially plenty of time is devoted to explaining why…